Nikon Coolpix 5400 Review

The Nikon Coolpix 5400, announced
at the end of May 2003, is the immediate successor to the Coolpix
5000 it has a very similar design and maintains the Coolpix 5000's unique
wide angle zoom lens, although in the 5400 this has been extended to four
times optical zoom. This means that the compact Coolpix 5400 has the fairly
unique position of being a five megapixel 'prosumer' digital camera with
a 28 - 116 mm (equiv.) zoom range.

Those observant among you may have noticed that despite
an increase in zoom range the real focal length range of the lens used
on the 5400 (5.8 - 24 mm) is less than that of the Coolpix 5000 (7.1 -
21.4 mm), this can be accounted for in the difference between the size
of sensor used. The Coolpix 5000 used a 2/3" (8.8 x 6.6 mm) CCD,
the Coolpix 5400 uses a newer (and slightly smaller) 1/1.8" (7.2
x 5.3 mm) CCD.

Nikon Coolpix 5400 vs. Coolpix 5000

Here's a quick summary of the primary differences between
the Coolpix 5400 and 5000.

* Coolpix 5400 will get RAW format support early next year via a firmware
update, the Coolpix 5000 has had RAW format support since firmware 1.7
posted last September.

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital
Photography Glossary before diving into this review (it may help you
understand some of the terms used).

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This review is Copyright 2003 Phil
Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any
electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.
For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images)
please contact: Phil Askey.